Puppets
by the lola
Summary: "But she is a puppet. She is a pawn." warning: depictions of self harm. "and it disgusts her, for she is like them." "They will respect her the most, not love, no, for Blacks' don't have hearts." 14, 16 and 18 year old Narcissa, Andromeda and Bellatrix.
1. Narcissa

She's born into a world of hollow, callous souls that wrap their icy claws around her, encasing her and ensuring that she never _ever_ escapes.

Deep in the abysses of her mind she's desperately pleading and bargaining with the souls who just don't _care,_ because all she wants is to be _free_ from the chains labeled with _expectations, pure, arranged, perfect, prim, lady, dark, innocent_ which are so strongly unbending and unwilling to adjust.

She drags a brush through the hair she _desperately_ wishes she could just cut, much like the family ties. _Pure, noble, ancient, forever. _The only thing that is forever is the agony gnawing and scratching at her skull because she just wants to _matter_.

But she is a puppet. She is a pawn. She does exactly what the empty shells of people ask of her for she wouldn't _dare_ become a _disappointment_. That would certainly not do.

They put on a fabulous act for the ever adoring, ever obsessive crowds. And for now, they are the directors, producers and helpers, and she is their star and their masterpiece.

They lionize her.

The Blacks' have always had their dirty little secrets, hidden deep in their derailed minds, immersed in their empty metal hearts, sunken into the floorboards, the peeling walls, the seemingly meaningless paintings.

Oh, the magnificent house of Black. Well, if _only_ they _knew_. But that is her secret, isn't it?

She has a game, a game with a difference.

She is the artist. Creating a masterpiece of herself, desperately trying to murder the monsters that never go away and are forever scraping and mauling at her mind, whispering yet screeching evil words, they are empty yet _so _full.

There is never enough paint, never enough paint to kill the monsters and break free from the bindings that are wound round her so _tightly_ she can barely _breathe_.

But now her art is everywhere as she lies upon the floor- there's more than enough paint, this time. It surrounds her. It overwhelms her and encompasses her and she thinks _maybe_, just maybe, _her_ masterpiece is done.

Except it isn't. She can't stop herself. She isn't finished. And she drags her paintbrush along her _eversoprettyinpaint_ wrist, and carves the spiral. Her spiral.

It has a meaning that the dismal world she's obliged to be a part of will probably miss, but she does it anyway.

_Her downward spiral. This show is over. I started at the top, and now I'm at the bottom. None of you noticed enough to care. _

The last thing she does, her last valiant attempt at making herself _matter_.

The downward spiral.

Her suicide note.

* * *

A/N- I'm not sure how I feel about this… well, I'm quite proud of it, I think. Pretty please let me know what you thought of it?

Also in this, Narcissa is 14, Andromeda is 16, and Bellatrix is 18.


	2. Andromeda

There is no _single_ part of Andromeda that isn't imprisoned. Her heart is expected to be black, depleted and hollow. Her mind is expected to be malleable and transformable, a blank canvas ready to be saturated with twisted morals and near psychopathic values.

She is told she will _not _wed for love. What a _preposterous _idea! Her Mother cackles, obsidian eyes glinting with those _senseless_ morals of the Blacks'.

The fact that she is _forever_ disregarded and neglected does nothing to loosen the ropes which are binding her to this life style. _Forever noble, forever pure, forever ancient_. She chuckles to herself darkly; it's more like forever **immoral**, forever **sinful**, forever **resentful**.

These thoughts lead her to a new realization… she is like them. Those vile, derailing and _atrocious _values have been ingrained so deep into her mind so that even if she does not _dare_ use them towards the general population- she feels them towards her family. And it disgusts her, for she is like them, she will never _not _be a Black, and that thought crumbles her insides.

The growth she's had as a person has only taught her one thing: _once upon a time, nobody __**ever**__ cared. _Her family have their pretty princess, and they have their perfect Black.

Andromeda knows what she is- the one they can't _wait _to be rid of. The _problem_ child. The _somethingwentwrongthere _child. The child they don't _understand_. The child they don't _need_ nor _want_.

Cissy is oh so _sad_. Bella is oh so _bad_. And now the Blacks' show is back and Andromeda feels like a member of the audience while they idolize Cissy and make her the star, sculpting her into their very _own_ pretty pureblood princess.

They encourage Bella to be _different, _to be _dark_, and tell her dark witches are _very powerful, _they are _leaders_. And why _of course_, every show needs a villain, Andromeda knows too well from the many performances she's been forced to act as a supporting role.

She's stuck in a glass house. Well, if only it were as _delightful_ as a glass house. It's a prison, but a prison with a twist. The more secrets you keep the better person you are. The more sins you commit, the quicker you get out of there. You can only earn respect by undermining people and filling yourself with hatred.

One day she will escape from these creatures, she promises herself.

Good luck to life as a Black, the only thing you'll find in it is a dungeon.

* * *

A/N- So this has now turned into an entry for the **Prompt Competition: The Black Sisters**. My prompt is imprisoned, and there is now one for Narcissa and Andromeda, with Bellatrix coming up next! A review would be lovely….


	3. Bellatrix

Bellatrix understands her life. She's grown to _like_ her prison- she can hide in the murky shadows of expectations, blood supremacy, secrets and lies. The pain inflicted from the chains wound so rigidly around her mind has actually become _pleasurable _by this point.

All that she wants is to be the perfect Black, to be someone her family is proud of. They constantly encourage her - _Dark witches are powerful_, they tell her, and she has now developed an insatiable thirst for power.

She knows that Cissy is _sad_. Bella doesn't understand why she expects them to care- that is not their job. Their job is to make them into great witches who make perfect pureblood wives, and they _were_ doing a great job of that. She knows Cissy is their favourite, their perfect pureblood princess. But she also understands that Andromeda is the _weird _child, the _problem_ child- leaving room for Bellatrix to mean _something_, and she is well aware of this fact.

There is a luminous darkness hanging over her every thought. Sooty, incoherent feelings swell up in her mind- not her heart, she doesn't _have_ a heart, her Father tells her this, anyway. She can't pluck away the truths in her mind from the lies. She can no longer comprehend what is real and what is not. The lines of her morals and values are just so _blurred_, and there is constantly a sickening spinning in her mind.

But she will be who they want her to be. She will be the dark witch- she will be the embodiment of a Black. They will _respect _her the most, not love, no, for Blacks' don't have hearts. Andromeda will forever be the problem child, shoved into a marriage with whoever- if anyone- will take her, and Cissy will forever be their princess, probably getting to choose her marriage, because so _many_ will want her hand. Bellatrix will be the perfect Black- she will have a _proper_ marriage with a _respectable_ man. She will.

She loathes admitting her own fear, for Blacks' are not supposed to possess fear. But she does. There is one thing, one thing only- and that is being released from her prison. She wants the chains to constrict her mind and cause her painful pleasure, she wants to be told what's right and what's wrong, she wants to be fed lies from her parents and pretend that _maybejustmaybe _they care. She wants to hide in the shadows of her parents, in the shadows of the Blacks', for she would _never _want to disappoint. She would rather _die_ than disappoint.

She would rather be stuck in a prison coiled in chains and filthy with lies, than disappoint. And she can't decide if there is something wrong with that.

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A/N- Let me know what you thought? :)


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